Introduction and Acknowledgments

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to present this briefing book to participants in the Rethink Music conference. The book includes the Center’s own framing paper, which introduces a number of issues that will be discussed during the course of the conference. Following that paper are contributions from a wide range of contributors, addressing some of the most current and compelling issues in music law and policy. The first five of those contributions were conceived during an October 2010 meeting at Harvard Law School among a variety of stakeholders interested in helping to shape the agenda for the Rethink Music conference, and they reflect the individual authors’ views on several cutting edge issues of the day. The last two papers reflect the existing or ongoing work of their respective contributors. The respective authors and/or copyright holders retain rights in each of the individual submissions. As noted, some of the submissions are licensed under Creative Commons licenses.

The Berkman Center thanks all of the individual authors of papers included in this briefing book for offering their valuable contributions to what is expected to be a vibrant conversation at the Rethink Music event. Josh Podoll, Editor in Chief of Harvard Law School’s Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, and the entire staff of JSEL, were enormously helpful in running the Call for Papers that resulted in the selection of Mary LaFrance’s “From Whether to How: The Challenge of Implementing a Full Public Performance Right in Sound Recordings,” which will be published in the Spring 2011 edition of JSEL. Berkman Center Faculty Co-Directors William Fisher and Yochai Benkler, along with Stuart Brotman, Harvard Law School Lecturer on Law and President of Stuart Brotman Communications, provided valuable advice and input in the evaluation process of the Call for Papers as well. The Berkman Center’s Executive Director Urs Gasser and Managing Director Colin Maclay, along with the rest of the Berkman Faculty Co-Directors, were extraordinarily supportive of the Center’s efforts throughout this project. Berkman Center Research Assistant Joey Seiler and Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic student Adam Gottesfeld, both 2Ls at HLS, did the lion’s share of the work on the Center’s framing paper. Christopher Bavitz, Assistant Director of Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic and a Clinical Instructor and Lecturer of Law at HLS, oversaw the preparation of this briefing book, and Berkman Center Program Coordinator Amar Ashar offered indispensable assistance throughout the process of assembling the book. Christopher and Amar served as the Berkman Center’s primary liaisons with Berklee College of Music in connection with the Rethink Music conference. The Center thanks Berklee and, in particular, Assistant Professor Allen Bargfrede, for their commitment to including discussions of law and policy in the Rethink event.

The Berkman Center is hopeful that this compendium of materials will help frame the issues, prompt consideration, and provoke discussion during the Rethink Music conference.